1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates a multi-player type video game playing system and particularly to such a system in which a plurality of players can play a game in the common game space while observing game scenes projected onto a screen.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are known simulation type video shooting games in which a player aims and shoots at targets displayed on a screen. Such video shooting games are played in accordance with various stories. In one of the stories, a player is successively attacked by enemies and at the same time hunts a treasure or treasures while fighting with the enemies. In another story, a player is on board a spaceship and intends to return to the earth while fighting enemies attacking the player.
In such simulation type video shooting games, it is preferred that a screen is enlarged to increase the reality.
The enlargement of a screen necessarily leads to the increase of the manufacturing cost. For such a reason, most video shooting games were provided to allocate a single video monitor to a single player. A proposal has been made in which a screen is formed by using a plurality of video monitors. However, such a screen is at most two or three times that of a single screen and yet has a seam between each adjacent video monitors to reduce the reality.
More recently, another proposal has been made in which a video projector is used with an enlarged screen to permit two players to play a shooting game. In this proposal, however, the enlarged screen is about several times that of a single video monitor. This also lacks the reality.
The inventors have been studying a multi-player type shooting game playing system in which a screen can be enlarged without increase of the manufacturing cost and wherein a number of players can simultaneously play a game against the common screen. Although it is possible for a plurality of players to play the same shooting game against the common enlarged screen, it cannot be avoided that any player will have to shoot his gun against one side margin of the common screen. Therefore, he will feel a reduced degree of reality. In addition, the player positioned against the side margin of the screen will view the screen slantingly. This also decreases the reality for him.
The inventors have found that when it is desired to provide a multi-player type video game system having an enlarged screen formed inexpensively and giving an improved degree of reality, a fearless idea departing from the prior art is required.